Crazies in the Desert
by Kirmon64
Summary: Grimroth Razz lives in the middle of nowhere for a reason, dammit - not that it stops certain determined individuals from finding him.
I think Grim is my favourite part of the entire Reboot 'verse, tbh. This kind of formed whole cloth from one particular comment of his brother's - it's certainly nowhere near canon, it contradicts a lot of stuff, but... what if, eh?

* * *

 _"How's ol' Grim doing these days? I haven't heard much from him since we moved here from the Polaris Galaxy."_

* * *

When the doorbell chimes, Grim very nearly stabs himself in the hand.

He lives in a backwater county on a backwater planet and visitors are nearly unheard of; unannounced visitors at midnight even more so. What neighbors he had lived a couple klicks away and wouldn't dare travel the cliffs at night, even in a hovercar.

Grim sets the fusion splicer in its holder and considers the situation. Maybe it would be best to simply ignore it. Not many crazies out in the desert, but it wasn't unheard of. The last thing he wanted was to get shot.

The chime rings again. Longer, this time. More force behind it.

Grim sighs and goes to open the door. He snags a blaster along the way; wouldn't do much good if his visitor was armored, but hey.

"Hey. What do you -"

And Grim's words die on his tongue because he _recognizes_ his visitor.

" _Kaden_?"

He's not armored, at least he doesn't look it, but Grim remembers that you could never quite tell with Lombaxes. It has a power source, incorporated into the chest design, but it's cracked and sparking and if it was armor it's probably not anymore.

Kaden himself is - he's grown up. There's lines of worry on his face that hadn't been there before, and a hunch to his shoulders that Grim never would have imagined Kaden getting. His fur's brightened a little and he's lost the last of the baby spotting, and his eyes are downcast and lacking their spark. There is, Grim notices, a hint of bruising on his cheek - and spots of blood dried in his fur.

What truly startles Grim, however, is the bundle of linen cradled in Kaden's arms. It rustles and a tiny hand sticks out, its back streaked with spots. Kaden takes it in his own, and finally looks at Grim. There is a shadow of a smile on his face: ironic, pained, and without a trace of happiness.

"Hey, Grim. Mind if I come in?"

Grim lets him in. How is he going to say no to that?

Kaden takes a step, though it's more of a stumble than anything, and as Kaden turns Grim can see the reason for it: the graceful arch of Kaden's ears is broken. His right ear goes to the first stripe and then... nothing, beyond that. His head's perpetually tilted to the right, a consequence of his ruined balance.

He manages anyway, though he looks completely drunk. Grim follows a half-step behind, and in the light the blood coating Kaden's right side is far more obvious. When Kaden stumbles to the nearest worktable he sets the bundle of linen down and clutches its edge like a lifeline. Disorientation - blood loss? Maybe? Hell if he knew.

Grim stands across from him, hands stuffed in his pockets, trying very hard not to stare and definitely failing. Kaden doesn't seem to care, but then again Kaden had soaked up attention like a solar cell soaks up sunlight.

The ear stump twitches occasionally, and Kaden's entire head with it. Grim wonders if he's in pain and if he should offer - what? More nanotech? Energy smoothie, maybe, give whatever was left of Kaden's a power boost. Solanian nanotech'd probably be more of a hinderance than a help anyway.

And then there was the - the _baby_. The linen wasn't covered in blood, at least, though there were spots of it everywhere. Soot, too, maybe a few slivers of shrapnel? Hard to tell, even in the light.

"My son," Kaden says, so softly that Grim almost doesn't hear him. He takes the baby's - _his child's_ \- hand again, and Grim leans over the table to get a better look.

He's greeted with huge green eyes practically the size of hub caps, and by Korshal were Lombax babies supposed to be that tiny? He's more brown than yellow, covered in the blurry spotted streaks that would one day turn into proper stripes. It's not quite Kaden's colors; Grim thinks the baby'll grow up to be a bit more vibrant, maybe. Hard to tell at that age.

"When did you have a kid?" Grim asks in hushed tones.

"Two months ago," Kaden murmurs. He draws a deep, shaking breath. "Grim, I - I need to ask you a favor."

Grim's not on Kaden's level of genius. Most people aren't. But he's not stupid, and really there's only one favor Kaden could possibly be asking of him right now. "You want me to take the kid." Kaden flinches, very slightly, and that's more than enough of an answer. "Kaden, I can't do that, you're his father! Just - stay. Whatever happened on Fastoon - you're a long ways away now. And where's Alister?" They'd been inseparable, Grim remembers. Spent nearly every waking moment with each other. They'd had enough in common they'd probably have remained friends when they got older - he'd have pegged the two of them as becoming a couple, to be honest. Maybe the kid was adopted.

Kaden's free hand clenches into a fist. So. Maybe not a couple, then. "Don't mention that name."

Definitely not a couple. "You can't just _leave_ him here."

"I need to," Kaden replies, softly. He rubs his thumb over the back of the baby's hand, far more gentle than Grim had ever seen Kaden be with anything. "It isn't safe. Not for me, or him." His free hand drifts up, toward his ruined ear, before settling on the table again. "Please, Grim. There's no one else for me to go to."

Well. Damn. Didn't that sound ominous. Kaden had needed to leave a whole entire galaxy behind to be safe? Had to go to a childhood friend he hadn't seen in thirty-odd years? The Kaden he remembered could be melodramatic, sure, but this was a bit much even for him. And his ear... there'd been stories of people taking rockets and getting up afterwards, if they had enough nanotech in their system. For something to damage Kaden like this, to have it leave _scars_...

"What happened?" Kaden shakes his head, silently, and Grim presses on. "Kaden, don't give me that shit. You're trying to foist your kid on me, at least tell me _why_."

Kaden stares down at the table. Grim thinks he's tracing something on its surface - Lombaxian glyphs, maybe, he can't tell - and he twitches a smile. "You'll find out anyway in a couple days, when the news catches up. Fastoon's gone. The Lombaxes are gone. Polaris isn't safe for me. Especially me. I - I can't tell you more than that. It's better if you don't know. Better if he never finds out." He brushes his thumb across the baby's cheek, who mewls and bats at it with his tiny hands.

Fastoon _gone_? How the hell - they hadn't been at war, there'd been no one left in Polaris both foolish enough to engage them and strong enough to win. Except - except if the Cragmites...

Grim sits, very suddenly. "Shit."

Kaden barks out a laugh that sounds nothing like him. "That about sums it up, yeah."

"You're going _back there_?"

Kaden's face... darkens, imperceptibly. "Yes. I need to stop this. Solana will be safe - so long as he's not found. Do you understand? He can't know, and he can't be found. Not just for his sake. You know what will happen."

The Cragmites would stop at nothing to wipe out the race that had caused their downfall. They'd devoured worlds for less, and by all accounts they were vindictive sons of bitches. And after they were through - the rest of Solana wouldn't stand a chance. "Yeah. Okay. Okay, Kaden. I'll take him."

The words are out of Grim's mouth before he even entirely realizes what he's just agreed to. Then there is a shift in Kaden's demeanor and he can't exactly take it back. It's like an immense weight, lifting itself from Kaden's shoulders. What was it even like, to lose your entire family and your entire _species_ in one fell swoop?

"Thank you. You've no idea... thank you, Grim." Kaden leans across the table, grabs Grim's face, and kisses him. There's nothing romantic about it; simple gratitude, expressed the only way Kaden knows how. Some things never change.

"I need to leave right now. No one can know I'm here; I can't be tied to you. You understand? Don't - don't let anyone find you. If anything happens, just - run. Please?"

As if Grim would ever try to stand up to Cragmite soldiers. Kaden was apparently crazy enough to try, but Kaden wasn't most people. "Yeah."

Kaden nods, a little curt, probably not on purpose. His eyes flick down when his son mewls again, and he brushes a finger down the tiny, blotchy cheek. He looks as though he's going to say something, and then he doesn't; the corner of his mouth quirks up a little, and he brings Grim's hands to rest on the linens.

 _Pick him up,_ is the unspoken instruction, and Grim does, because this is his life now apparently. He has no idea how to handle babies, but the kid's wrapped in what feels like a kilocubit of material so at least there's plenty to hold on to.

That strange non-smile ghosts over Kaden's face again, and he pats Grim's hand once before turning on his heel and striding toward the door. Or attempting to, at least. Grim follows, on autopilot more than anything. Wasn't like he could catch Kaden if he fell, what with him already holding a Lombax and all.

There is no ship outside. He'd not exactly looked very hard before, what with the shock and all. But the plateau has almost nothing in the way of obstructions, certainly nothing large enough to hide a ship of the size that would be required for galaxy-hopping. Lombax engineering and Lombax insanity aside, surely it'd have to be at least four or five cubits long to fit the hyperdrive; you could only shrink these things so much.

"Where's your ship?" Grim asks.

Kaden gestures behind him vaguely, toward the dunes at the plateau's edge, and Grim knows he's lying. Nothing but a sheer drop behind them; enough room to hide a ship, maybe, but only if you wanted to climb the cliff face. Maybe Kaden would attempt it on his own, but not while carrying a kid.

"Keep an eye out, okay? For... anything from Polaris. I'll - I'll come back."

That's also a lie. Grim may not have seen Kaden for thirty-some years, and he might not really know the man anymore - but that's a lie, and Kaden knows it. He shows it in his refusal to look at Grim, and _especially_ at his kid.

"You better," Grim says anyway.

Kaden doesn't reply; after a moment's hesitation he simply turns and stumbles off into the night. He seems to be getting a little better at balancing, at least, though Grim doubts he'll survive a fight with pirates, never mind Cragmites.

The kid wriggles, and Grim looks down. He looks surprisingly unconcerned about the loss of his father; instead he is rather more interested in attempting to grab Grim's tusks. Grim leans down to let him, and the baby lets out a delighted bark.

Grim looks up in time to see Kaden disappear around the dune, and very suddenly realizes that he is now a _dad_ as of five minutes ago. There's not even food in the fridge and now he's gotta feed a kid too, and what did the kid even eat? Was he old enough for solid food? Did he have allergies? Medical conditions? Shit, was Solanian nanotech even programmed to recognize Lombaxes?

Also, he doesn't even know the kid's _name_.

Grim opens his mouth to - call Kaden back, maybe, or swear at him, or probably both really. There is a - not a flash, precisely, more of a - a flicker. Light, but not, a strange pull, a mirage in the distance. Fastoon? It's gone as quickly as it appeared, leaving behind the smell of burning. He is alone.

Then the kid starts gumming on his lip. Grim sighs and turns on his heel.

He is _not_ ready for this - but by Korshal he would _try_.


End file.
